Chapter 122 - Vinegar jar.
You Liangxing: “……” Sure, please take your pleasure and go to one side.
Since he hadn’t been in school for quite some time, he had to give obligatory greetings to the teachers who had taken care of him on a regular basis and Kang Shengzhe ended up following You Liangxing around since he had nothing to do. While he did not affect You Liangxing from fulfilling his agenda, his sense of existence was rather high.
They enjoyed twice the amount of blatant attention as a result, and when they were about to visit the school student union, the taller man was tentatively made to stay further away after You Liangxing coerced him with his fists.
Speaking of which, during the time where You Liangxing was not around, the matters regarding the student union had been placed under Liao Su to take care of. Liao Su had always been reliable when it came to handling matters and You Liangxing knew he did not have to worry. Thus, after hearing a few reports, the visit concluded.
And roughly half an hour later, everything was dealt with in an appropriate manner. Meanwhile, Kang Shengzhe had already played three game matches as he was squatting at the entrance.
His tall and big person was two metres in height, and when he squatted on his heels, it gave the impression that he had been wronged. You Liangxing’s heart softened and he was about to call out to him when he heard Kang Shengzhe use his text-to-speech to say: “Are there sweethearts on the opposing side? This little brother will send you back to your fountain.”
You Liangxing: “……”
He had issues.
Suddenly, someone called You Liangxing by his name, stopping him in his tracks: “You-xuezhang.”
That caused You Liangxing to snap back to his reverie with a question apparent in his gaze. The person who called out him was a female student and her expression shook momentarily before she recovered. She asked: “Can I discuss something with you?”
After being gestured by You Liangxing to continue, the female student handed him a poster swiftly. Having organised this event last year, You Liangxing immediately knew the reason why she had asked for him.
It was the school’s annual Double 11 Evening Party.
The female student was both earnest and fidgety as she said, “This year’s event is being facilitated by the student union and the school management a.s.sociation and the responsibilities on the student union’s end are managed by me. School senior, you should be aware that the Double 11 Evening Party is where the students enjoy living things up the most. When I launched the ballot, the cries for You-xeuzhang were the loudest, and the female students… Um, whether it was the female or male students, all of them sincerely hoped that You-xuezhang could be invited to the event as a guest. Truth to be told, school senior, you don’t need to do anything, you just have to follow the programme and play a few games… it’s fine even if you don’t partic.i.p.ate in the games! School senior, all that is asked of you is to show your face!”
Afraid that You Liangxing would not agree, the female student’s voice had raised by two octaves nearing the end of her words.
Doing it for a job was something that You Liangxing could understand very well, but You Liangxing did not like being in places where there were a lot of people and he did not love ruckuses either, which was why he hadn’t attended the evening parties that occurred in the past two years.
You Liangxing wanted to open his mouth to reject it when the female student happened to retract her gaze from Kang Shengzhe’s person. Somewhat embarra.s.sed, she said: “Also, school senior, you should be familiar with Kang Shengzhe, right?”
You Liangxing had a bad premonition about this but he still replied: “We’re alright.”
The female student was ecstatic, “Could you pa.s.s him a poster then? I’m not familiar with him and I find it a little awkward to go out of my way to find him. If it doesn’t trouble you too much, could you help me tell him about the event as well?”
You Liangxing parted his lips slowly: “… He’s being invited as a guest too?”
“Yes, apart from You-xuezhang, the votes casted for him was the highest. I can’t do anything about it either. What’s more, it’s happening tonight and between school senior and Kang Shengzhe, I have to make sure one of you attend, or else…”
Before he heard the last part of her sentence, You Liangxing rubbed the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows and kept the poster after folding it. “I’ll go.”
The pleasant surprise came too suddenly and the female student could not be more excited. She jumped around happily for a long time before she thanked him in a high voice. “Thank you school senior!! School senior, you’re really nice!!”
After ending the discussion, he turned around only to b.u.mp directly into Kang Shengzhe’s probing gaze. The little giant observed that female student as she walked away in joyous strides for a few seconds before he said: “Who was that?”
You Liangxing replied, “The vice section head for student life.”
Kang Shengzhe did not have a smidgen of interest with regards to who the section head or the vice section head was in the student union. Thus, he asked for the main point in a lazy manner: “What were you talking about?”
What else could we be talking about. You Liangxing said: “Double 11 Evening Party, she asked me to be a guest.”
Since Kang Shengzhe was a new student,he had heard the announcements about the evening party hosted on Singles’ Day early on. Now that You Liangxing had touched on the topic, he immediately grasped the gist of his previous conversation. “Liang Liang, are you going?”
You Liangxing glared at him but what greeted him was the high jut of Kang Shengzhe’s lips and he only lacked the four written words k2018;someone is not happy’ on his face to fully exhibit what he felt. His mood turned and he could not help but say smilingly: “Stop going mental, be serious.”
There had never been a time where Kang Shengzhe was more serious than this and he could not understand where You Liangxing’s amus.e.m.e.nt was being derived from. His brows scrunched together and he wanted to say a few words of contention.
“Liang Liang…… Double 11 is an event meant for single people, and right now we’re, the both of us are…”
As he was speaking, Kang Shengzhe held onto both of You Liangxing’s hands, nervousness apparent on his visage. The faltering and jerky half-spoken words were about to be verbalised when a lady’s voice travelled over from behind them without prior warning.
“You-xuezhang?”
That voice came from a familiar person, and You Liangxing had no choice but to pull his hands out of Kang Shengzhe’s grasp as he replied: “En.”
It was not a coincidence that Liang Chuhan was here. But to speak from another perspective, it could be considered as an unlucky encounter, since she only saw You Liangxing and Kang Shengzhe’s back figures superimposing on each other when she was walking over, and she had only come to realise that the distance between the two had been excessively terse and surrounded by a slightly unnatural atmosphere when she neared.
“Work?” You Liangxing asked.
When Liang Chuhan finally came back to herself, her response was delayed. “En, the student union called me for a matter.”
Since she had something to do, she would not possess the time to reminiscence either. You Liangxing exchanged gazes with her and nodded his head, planning to leave. Holding onto his own temper, Kang Shengzhe fell towards You Liangxing’s body in a persistent manner, and the pair thus departed while pushing and holding, causing an inexplicable and indiscernible intimate feeling to permeate the air.
They did not seem like a school senior and his junior brother… they resembled a pair of sweethearts.
Stuck in a trance, she recalled the heated discussion in the web forum. Her elegant eyebrows furrowed and she gazed at You Liangxing’s back figure, heart sore and depressed.
A short beat later, she rushed towards them and shouted out: “You-xuezhang! I have something I would like to tell you.”
Probably because he perceived something in Liang Chuhan’s expression, You Liangxing and Kang Shengzhe’s complexion went through subtle changes. In the moment where their eyes met, You Liangxing said: “Go over there and wait for me.”
Kang Shengzhe’s expression was faint. “Do you want me to buy mandarin oranges for you?”
You Liangxing: “……”
In reply to that, You Liangxing gave him a look, causing Kang Shengzhe to groan and he squatted at where he originally stood.
Their surroundings were quiet as Liang Chuhan and You Liangxing walked a few steps further along the path. The turbulence in Liang Chuhan’s state of mind helped propel the scenario and the urge to shrink away became more p.r.o.nounced the quieter it became. But it was also in the quiet that she chose to speak: “Such words might be a little abrupt… and I don’t know why I suddenly decided to do this either… apologies.”
Those words had yet to rise from her throat, but the contents she wanted to convey was already fully expressed. You Liangxing was not insensitive to feelings by any means, which was why he remained silent, choosing not to speak just yet.
At this moment, the boy choosing not to speak clearly hinted that he did not have any feelings for her. Liang Chuhan already had some predictions in her heart but it did not stop her from feeling some disappointment.
“… School senior, do you have someone you like?”
You Liangxing nodded his head and Liang Chuhan stiffened slightly. Soon after, a smile appeared, “Is it Kang Shengzhe?”
You Liangxing said: “En.”
As expected.
His answer was straightforward, leaving an elusive taste in Liang Chuhan’s heart. It was natural for her to feel upset, but at the same time, she was grateful for his tendency to speak without reservation.
She was the one who began pining secretly on her own prerogative and being able to find proper closure for it was considered a good thing.
Liang Chuhan let out a deep sigh. Mustering her courage, she said her piece: “You-xuezhang, I really like you and I don’t mean anything behind that. I just wanted to tell you that I like you so I can only let go of it after I expressed those feelings.”
You Liangxing was about to open his mouth when he suddenly heard noise coming from behind him. When he turned back, he saw Kang Shengzhe hiding behind a tree nearby. Although he tried his best to conceal himself, his stature was huge and half of his body were exposed.
You Liangxing’s eyebrows twitched. Irritated, he stated, “Kang Shengzhe.”
Kang Shengzhe’s shoulder shook. Without making a sound, he ran towards another tree and hid behind it instead.
You Liangxing: “……”
This was essentially what ‘hiding it only makes it more conspicuous’ meant in every sense of the word. You Liangxing’s voice became higher and his anger was more evident than before. “Kang Shengzhe, what are you doing!”
Kang Shengzhe faked sobbed before he slowly came out from behind the tree.
Feeling agitated at the sight of his strange ying ying face, he said coldly: “Go over there.”
Kang Shengzhe pouted again. “I refuse, I want to eavesdrop.”
What the h.e.l.l, he had been discovered and he still wanted to eavesdrop?
“Are you leaving or not?” asked You Liangxing.
Kang Shengzhe was unusually obstinate. “I’m not leaving.”
You Liangxing could not be bothered to speak more and his leg stepped forward. Kang Shengzhe’s expression became grave but his body actually jumped further back voluntarily.
You Liangxing: “… Leave now!”
After expending a lot of effort, he finally managed to chase Kang Shengzhe away but it left his head aching out of anger. As Liang Chuhan watched You Liangxing rub his forehead, she lost herself in her thoughts for a long time before she burst out into a peal of laughter.
You Liangxing could not decipher what she was laughing about, and he could only adjust his own expression and say the words he hadn’t had the time to convey.
“I’m sorry.”
Liang Chuhan shook her head. “You don’t need to apologise; I think it’s great that you’re together with him. In my opinion, as long as You-xuezhang is happy, I’m happy.” As she said those words, Liang Chuhan’s expression became gentler.
You Liangxing hesitated because he only had a word of thanks in reply to that. Thus, in a light voice, he said, “Thank you.”
The timing was just right. If they were to say something else, they would inevitably be extraneous no matter how they phrased it. After that, You Liangxing sent Liang Chuhan back to the student union again and the two of them bid each other farewell temporarily.
Before she entered the student union, Liang Chuhan said smilingly, “You-xuezhang, if you’re missing a person when you’re gaming with your boyfriend next time, you can call me. My skill level is decent; bring me around when you have the time.”
This meant that like a page being flipped, they were going to put what happened today to rest and they would continue to interact as friends in the future. You Liangxing’s heart brightened and he nodded his head, “Okay.”
Liang Chuhan glanced behind You Liangxing and let out another incomprehensible and soft laugh. “Goodbye,” she said.
“Goodbye,” You Liangxing replied.
Although You Liangxing did not know why Liang Chuhan had laughed in the moment, he came to understand the underlying meaning when he turned back and saw Kang Shengzhe watching from afar like some kind of dogged evil spirit. Helplessly, he beckoned Kang Shengzhe forward. However, the latter man chose to shrink his neck and pretend that he saw nothing.
Still feeling helpless, You Liangxing could only walk over to him. And Kang Shengzhe, upon catching a glimpse of his approaching figure, slinked away in a trot to a distant place without looking back.
You Liangxing: “……”
When You Liangxing chased up by two steps, Kang Shengzhe would run two steps further; each step chased was met with a step taken to pull apart their distance again. You Liangxing laughed angrily before he asked coldly: “Are you done?”
Kang Shengzhe returned a question: “What did you say to her?”
“Weren’t you eavesdropping?”
Stamping his foot, Kang Shengzhe said, “I didn’t hear the most important part.”
You Liangxing asked him, “What do you think I said?”
With a sulky expression, Kang Shengzhe replied, “How would I know.”
Even if You Liangxing wanted to ignore the waft of acidic sourness, he would be hard-pressed to do so, and it did not help that You Liangxing found the situation both frustrating and funny. It took him quite a while for him to ease the tension he felt and calm his mind.
“Kang Shengzhe, listen well, I like you.”
Kang Shengzhe froze, “Liang Liang…”
You Liangxing continued to speak. “I like you, I only like you, the only person I like is Kang Shengzhe.”
Those words were the most soothing words in the world’s human language. All the more, they made people’s heart burst with joy, and Kang Shengzhe was no exception to that because he was so touched his teardrops were about to fall. Hurriedly, he held onto You Liangxing’s hand and said emotionally: “Liang Liang…”
You Liangxing said: “En.”
Kang Shengzhe: “Can you not attend the Double 11 Evening Party tonight?”
You Liangxing: “……” No.
T/N: This chapter was just… nice, to translate.
I really loved Liang Chuhan’s maturity to find closure for herself, the affirmation of their feelings between our main couple, the parting of friends, both literal and development of relationship wise.